Wine is a critical part of any fine-dining restaurant, and at Tru in Chicago, guests expect the best wine experience possible from the nationally renowned list. “We try to always have a wine list that represents the world of wine as best as we can,” says David Murr, Tru’s sommelier. The wine list contains over 1,500 selections in addition to by-the-glass pours and an impressive list of liqueurs. “We try to carry the big names as well as the small producers.”

Educating and maintaining wine knowledge among front-of-house staff can be a challenge for any management team, but Murr says there are a few smart ways managers can approach wine education for their staff. Below, her shares five tips that he uses to keep the team at Tru engaged with the wine list.

1. Speak to your whole staff.

At Tru, the staff includes both servers who have worked in the industry for over 10 years and employees who don’t have much experience. As a result, Murr has to build wine lessons that work for both groups — with enough new information to keep the servers with more experience engaged, while covering the basics for the newer servers. “When we sit down to do tastings I make sure that we have a discussion about the staples of the wine list like, the by-the-glass pours, and then we’ll move into talking about more unusual things,” he says.

2. Focus on the guest experience.

Murr bridges the gap between the two topics by talking about the guests and how they might interact with a certain wine. That brings everyone into the discussion and enables them to think about how they can talk about certain pours tableside. “We don’t focus on the ‘theory’ of a wine per se, but more why our guests might like it and what would pair well with it food-wise,” Murr says. [Read more…]

It’s no secret that the restaurant industry is facing one of the worst labor shortages in history. Couple that with the fact that restaurants are the largest employer of immigrants, Muslims, and LGBTQ individuals — all vulnerable populations today — and staffing gets a lot more challenging.

That tension is part of the inspiration behind Sanctuary Restaurants, an organization founded to stand up for the rights of restaurant workers, owners, and consumers. We spoke with Saru Jayaraman, Executive Director and Co-founder of Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) United, one of the groups that helped launch the Sanctuary Restaurants movement. Here, she shares the inspiration behind the project and how owners and operators can serve their employees and communities.

Tell us the story behind Sanctuary Restaurants. What spurred the creation of it?

Even before this election, a lot of our industry partners were reporting that this is the worst labor shortage they’ve seen. When the election happened and there was all the rhetoric of hate — discriminatory policies against immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ individuals, women — our employer partners became very concerned that what was already a difficult situation for them, in which they had a hard time hiring and retaining workers, was going to become even more difficult.

We had some employers report that workers were terrified to even show up for work, there was tension and fighting among staff, workers were being harassed by customers who felt empowered by the rhetoric. Our employer leaders came together and decided to write an open letter to President Trump saying, business owner to business owner, please don’t make this more difficult for us. We don’t need a hostile environment for all the most vulnerable workers in our industry.

Why is the restaurant industry specifically affected?

We are the largest employer of every one of those vulnerable populations — of immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ individuals — everybody. To have an industry that’s already going through this shortage now facing incredible tension among these vulnerable workers, this is not what we need. What we need is a path to citizenship for these workers, our employees.

They wrote the letter and, to make it more visible, came up collectively with the term Sanctuary Restaurants. The motto is “a place at the table for everyone.” As a Sanctuary Restaurant, they are a community space that is open to every kind of worker and every kind of customer. They would not tolerate any kind of discrimination based on anyone’s identity, whether it’s their political beliefs or religious/ethnic identity, or their status as an immigrant.

How are Sanctuary Restaurants identified?

First they created signs and stickers, but we also wanted a way to support workers as well. We partnered with Presente.org, which is the largest Latinx online organization in the United States. They helped us create a web platform and a mobile texting system in which workers can text into a number to get rapid response support should anything happen in a restaurant, any kind of discrimination or harassment emergency.

Workers, consumers, and employers can all join. Employers and workers who join are invited to join legal presentations and webinars where they learn their rights and best practices for how to deal with these issues. Consumers are given cards that they can hand out to their favorite restaurant owners or managers. And they can hand out cards to workers with the mobile text number. Consumers can be one of best tools to grow this, and the employers involved feel like it’s very important to grow it so that it really begins to have some power and voice.

What kind of engagement have you seen from those groups?

Since we launched the program in early January more than 400 restaurants have signed on, about 1,000 workers, and about 15,000 consumers. It’s been rapid growth, with a lot of press attention and a lot of support from the industry.

We’ve been pleasantly surprised that so many restaurateurs are being so courageous in standing up and saying, we need a safe, welcoming environment for all these people because we rely on all of these people — and because we care about them. They are our families and communities.

What stories are you hearing from restaurants about what workers are facing?

There have been some raids. We have seen some instances of consumers feeling empowered to say harassing, discriminatory things to workers or employers. We’ve seen some employers who are not part of the program retaliate against workers for participating in the Day Without Immigrant marches and strikes.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen harassments come from co-workers, from consumers, and in other instances, employers. We’ve also seen a lot of employers who see the level of fear and division in their own restaurant. One employer in New York said to me, “It really feels like 9/11 all over again.” Nobody’s eating out, and people feel scared — to be in public places in some cases, to be around other people. It’s really about trying to create a sanctuary space in restaurants: this is a safe place anybody can come to and enjoy themselves and be treated with hospitality, which is what our industry is really about.

What do restaurants need to know about protecting their workers right now? Any tips?

Being in a collective space is the safest place. Joining something like Sanctuary Restaurants, being with other employers who are concerned about the same things, being able to learn from one another about what’s happening.

One of the best things about Sanctuary Restaurants is that there is an army of legal defense: so many attorneys right now that are gearing up to support immigrants and Muslims, which is great. There is safety in numbers, safety in knowing what’s happening in our industry in other parts of country, and hearing from lawyers with industry expertise who can provide that kind of support.

For example, we had employers in one case who were dealing with some hateful customers, and another from Maine said, here’s an email I sent to customers and how I dealt with it. It was a real learning moment for a lot of employers in other parts of the country for how they could deal with similar situations. That’s the benefit of an industry-specific group. Our group is of employers who care deeply about their workers’ well-being, who want to see them survive and thrive. They think, “We do better when they do better.”

The 2017 James Beard Awards are just around the corner! The best and brightest in today’s food and restaurant industry will be honored tomorrow, during the Media Awards in New York City, and on Monday, May 1 at the Chef & Restaurant Awards Gala in Chicago. We are incredibly excited to celebrate the inspiring people making waves in the industry with their talent, innovation, and excellence.

Ahead of the awards, we tapped James Beard Foundation President Susan Ungaro for a conversation about developing trends, food and politics, and which chefs still leave her star-struck. Read on.

The James Beard Foundation recently announced the 2017 semifinalists. Any chefs or restaurateurs you were particularly excited to see recognized? Why?

The days we announce our semifinalists and nominees is a time we make some people very happy and that makes us all feel good about all the great talent in our food world. I am particularly delighted to see the number of women chefs and restaurateurs rising every year.

What are some of the trends you’re seeing among this year’s nominees – anything that stands out?

People all over the country have become more and more passionate about how a great meal out can really make their day—and everyone is talking, blogging and writing about it. We are noticing that talented chefs and restaurants are being recognized not only in the usual top 20 cities, but in smaller culinary gems of cities ,too. I especially enjoy seeing places I’ve not been to (but will) make the list, such as Oxford, Mississippi; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Essex, Maryland; Milton, Delaware and San Antonio, Texas.

What are you seeing this year in the industry at large that you’re excited about? New developments or evolutions?

The personality and celebrity of chefs just continues to grow with the focus on them in traditional media and social media, as well. We also are noticing that Americans don’t just think of dinner out as just a special occasion. In response, many award-winning restaurants are offering breakfast for the early birds, as well as lunch on their menus. [Read more…]

Damian Mogavero is the founder of Avero, a software company that empowers restaurant operators to make decisions about serving their customers and running their businesses. His book The Underground Culinary Tour: How the New Metrics of Today’s Top Restaurants Are Transforming How America Eats introduces readers to the “new guard” of restaurateurs and a unique tour of innovative restaurants in NYC.

What are the greatest challenges to restaurants today?

It’s a dangerous time to be a restaurateur because there’s never been more competition. You’re seeing “urban disloyalty” because of social media; foodies are trying new places all the time. There’s greater competition but also prime cost challenges: food, labor, real estate, etc. For the first time 19 states have increased minimum wage. It’s more important than ever to optimize using data. The best restaurateurs are students of the industry. That’s what the new guard is doing—innovating and adapting.

What metrics are important but generally being overlooked by restaurants?

One example is the equivalent of a baseball card for servers. In Moneyball they were misevaluating the data. It’s the on-base percentage that makes a difference. It’s the same thing in the restaurant business: restaurateurs look at qualitative data, but not quantitative data. Data used to be buried in the POS and spreadsheets. One of the things Avero does is metrics like how often a server sold appetizers or bottles of wine, so it shows where servers need to be trained and what they need to focus on. It helps to see the nuances. In one example a server was selling wines by the glass, not by the bottle, and it turned out she was afraid to open the bottle at the table so she sold glasses instead of bottles.

What restaurant trends are you seeing?

One huge trend is the highest-quality ingredients. Foodies expect it everywhere. In addition to fast casual there are food halls, which are taking advantage of the urban revitalization in neighborhoods. I believe food will be the next real estate anchor, not retailers like Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s. It’s a trend not just in major cities. It’s happening all over. [Read more…]

How many stories lie in a plate of food? There’s the story of the ingredients and where they grow and how they’ve been prepared through generations. There’s the story of the technique and artistry and hard work that made them shine. There’s the story of how they were consumed and whom they nourished — in a restaurant, maybe, or around a table at home.

All of these stories, every one of them, are really stories about people. And they are as relevant today as they have ever been before.

Last week at Charleston Wine & Food we had the pleasure of speaking with John T. Edge, Executive Director of the Southern Foodways Alliance. Since its founding 20 years ago, the SFA has been devoted to documenting, studying, and exploring the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. From oral histories and podcasts to visual and performance art, the SFA has stretched our appreciation and understanding not just of Southern food, but of what food can tell us about our shared history, culture, and humanity.

In our conversation, John T. shared insights on the evolution of food studies, how to tell stories that resonate and persist, and the biggest misconceptions about Southern food today. Read on. [Read more…]